Bedpan

ABSTRACT

A BEDPAN EMPLOYING A RIGID ANNULAR SEAT AND AN INFLATABLE ANNULAR MEMBER UNDERLYING THE SEAT WHEREBY THE COMBINED SEAT AND INFLATABLE MEMBER HAVE ONLY THE COMBINED VERTICAL DIMENSION OF THE SEAT WHEN THE INFLATABLE MEMBER IS UNINFLATED THEREBY ENABLING THE BEDPAN TO BE EASILY PLACED UNDER A PATIENT AFTER WHICH THE INFLATABLE MEMBER IS GENTLY INFLATED TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE SPACE TO CONVENIENTLY RECEIVE THREE TO FOUR QUARTS OF WASTE MATERIAL, LIQUID OR THE LIKE. THE ANNULAR INFLATABLE MEMBER HAS A BOTTOM MEMBER ATTACHED THERETO AND A LINER IS PROVIDED FOR THE INTERIOR OF THE CYLINDRICAL MEMBER AS WELL AS THE BOTTOM WITH THE LINER EXTENDING IN OVERLYING RELATION TO THE SEAT AND BEING DETACHABLY CONNECTED TO THE EXTERNAL PERIPHERY THEREOF TO ENABLE REMOVAL OF THE LINER ALONG WITH ITS CONTENT AFTER REMOVAL OF THE BEDPAN FOR EASY DISPOSAL OF THE LINER AND ITS CONTENTS.

Sept. 420, 1971 H. B. DAILEY 3,605,127

BEDPAN Filed oct. s, 1969 Helen 8. Dai/ey United States Patent O 3,605,127 BEDPAN Helen B. Dailey, San Francisco, Calif.

A bedpan employing a rigid annular seat and an inflatable annular member underlying the seat whereby the combined seat and inilatable member have only the combined vertical dimension of the seat when the inilatable member is uninilated thereby enabling the bedpan to be easily placed under a patient after which the inilatable member is gently inflated to provide adequate space to conveniently receive three to four quarts of waste material, liquid or the like. The annular inilatable member has a bottom member attached thereto and a liner is provided for the interior of the cylindrical member as Well as the bottom with the liner extending in overlying relation to the seat and being detachably connected to the external periphery thereof to enable removal of the liner along with its content after removal of the bedpan for easy disposal of the liner and its contents.

The present invention generally relates to a bedpan and more particularly to a bedpan having a rigid conventionally shaped seat and an inatable cylindrical member constructed of -a plurality of inflatable tubes connected in superimposed relation to each other and communicated with each other to form a rm support for the seat when the bedpan has been inserted under a patient and the cylindrical member inflated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a bedpan which has for one of its principal advantages the elimination of a patient being pulled, pushed or tugged onto a tive inch high rigid container regardless of the fact that the patient cannot bear to be moved without experiencing great pain and in some instances actual danger to the patients wellbeing occurs after delicate surgery and in other instances, when recovery apparatus attached to the patient should not be disturbed. This advantage is obtained by the provision of a bedpan which when in collapsed condition has a total over-all height of less than one inch so that the bedpan may be placed alongside the patients body generally in alignment with the buttocks and by pressing the bedpan down into the mattress and sliding it under the patient, he can be placed comfortably and painlessly on the rm smooth seat of the bedpan.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bedpan which can be inflated to a predetermined pressure to provide a firm support for patients even though the patient may be a relatively heavy individual.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bedpan having a liner in the form of a flexible container constructed of water soluble material having the open end of the liner attached to the external periphery of the seat and extending over top of the seat so that all material will be received within the liner thereby enabling the open end of the liner to be detached from the bedpan after it has been removed from under the patient and folded over into a closed relation and the entire liner dumped out of the bedpan and disposed of in a commode or the like with the soluble characteristics of the liner being such as to provide suicient time before dissolving for disposal of the contents of the liner.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a bedpan which is quite simple in construction, easy to ICC retain in a sterile condition, constructed of longlasting and dependable materials and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference lbeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like m1- merals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view of the bedpan of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal, vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 2 2 of FIG. 1, on an enlarged scale, illustrating the specific construction of the inflatable member, the seat and the liner for the bedpan.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the bedpan in collapsed condition with the forward portion thereof shown in section to illustrate the relationship of the inflatable member to the seat when in collapsed condition.

FIG. 4 is a detailed sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 of FIG. l illustrating further structural details of the seat, inflatable member, liner and the structure for attaching the liner to the external periphery of the seat.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the inflatable member wth the seat land liner removed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the water soluble liner.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the bedpan of the present invention which includes a rigid seat member generally designated by the numeral 12 and an inflatable member generally designated by the numeral 14. The bedpan is provided with a water soluble liner generally designated by the numeral 16 which receives material within the interior thereof when the bedpan is used by la patient.

The seat 12 includes an annular member 18 which has a downwardly and inwardly sloping surface terminating in a downturned inner flange 20 of relatively short vertical dimension and an outer downturned ange 22 which has the lower edge thereof generally flush with the lower edge of the inner flange 20. As illustrated, the downwardly sloping surface of the annular member 18 merges with the flange 22 in la smoothly rounded edge portion 24 which provides a smooth contour for the exterior of the bedpan to facilitate insertion under the patient. The forward end portion of the annular member 18 is provided with a outout area 26 which extends to the vertical flange 22 with the inner flange 20 extending to and merging with the edge of the flange 22 at the cut-out area. The shape of the seat generally conforms with the shape of a conventional bedpan with the horizontal width of the seat being greater than a conventional bedpan to provide for the additional comfort of the patient. The seat 12 is preferably constructed of a rigid plastic material preferably White in color to provide a clean appearance and the seat is easy to clean and easily maintained in a sterile condition.

The inflatable member 14 is generally a cylindrical or annular inflated member having a shape in configuration generally the same as the shape and configuration of the seat with the inflatable member including three inflatable tubes 28, 30 and 32 with the lowermost tube 32 having a bottom panel 34 attached thereto and forming a closure for the inilatable member I4. The tubes 28, 30 and 32 are heat sealed together and provided with communicating passages 36 so that air introduced into the tubes will be equal in |all of the tubes. The intermediate tube 30 is provided with an adapter 38 through which an inlet tube or hose 40 is connected. Also, the tube 30 is provided with a pressure regulating device 42 which will assure iniiation of the inflatable member to the predetermined pressure to 3 provide sufficient support and rigidity for the seat so that the seat will be retained in a stable yet somewhat resilient supported condition even when supporting a large patient.

The uppermost inflatable tube 28 is provided with a plurality of tabs 44 of plastic material which are heat sealed thereto in peripherally spaced relation and each tab 44 -is provided with a female snap fastener element 46 thereon.

The female snap fastener elements 46 on the flexible plastic anchoring tabs 44 are detachably engaged with male snap fastener elements 48 rigid with the lower edge portion of the flange 22 with the male snap fastener elements facing outwardly as illustrated in FIG. 4, thus serving to detachably secure the inflatable member 14 and the seat 12 in assembled condition. The snap fastener elements 44 and 46 also secure the liner 16 in place. The liner 16 is in the form of a flexible bag-like container 50 having an open end 52 with the container having sufllcient dimensions to line the interior of the inflatable member when inflated as illustrated in FIG. 2 with the open end S2 of the liner overlying the upper surface of the seat 18 and extending downwardly around the periphery of the flange 22. When the liner is assembled with the bedpan, the free end 52 thereof is disposed in overlying relation to the male snap fasteners, while the female snap fastener elements are detached therefrom. Then, when the female snap fastener elements 46 are engaged with the male snap fastener elements 48, the liner 16 will be anchored in position. The flexibility of the liner is such that it will be disposed in a collapsed condition and Y when the bedpan is inflated and the seat elevated, the bottom of the liner will be disposed generally along the interior of the bottom panel 34 and any waste or material discharged therein will cause the liner to conform with the interior of the bedpan.

The inflatable member including the tubes, bottom panel and attaching pads may be constructed of any suitable plastic material of a desired decorative color such as an aqua or the like with the seams being heat sealed to withstand the inflation pressure which is limited by the regulator 42 which is in the form of a relief valve to prevent over-inflation. The liner may be constructed of various water soluble material such as polyvinyl alcohol, carboxy-methyl cellulose or an equivalent material having a sufficient life even when subjected to liquids such as occurs in waste materials discharged by patients and the like to assure that the liner will have an effective life during the period in which the bedpan is placed under the patient and to assure adequate time for the open end of the liner to be detached from the snap fasteners by manually disconnecting the tabs after which the free end of the liner may be folded over into a closed condition and the entire liner dumped from the bedpan into a commode or the like thus eliminating the possibility of rupture of the liner in the event of a large quantity of material therein if the liner was lifted from the bedpan.

The end of the hose 40 remote from the inflatable member 14 is provided with an adapter 54 and a rotatable valve member 56. The adapter 54 is adapted for insertion into a pressurized container of gaseous material such as air or the like and the valve 56 is a rotatable valve so that when it is rotated to a desired position, air is admitted into the inflatable member and in another rotatable position the valve 56 will close off the inflatable member and subsequently enable deflation of the inflatable member when desired. Also, an adapter may be provided for the hose 40 to enable it to be connected to any source of air pressure such as may be provided in wall outlets, tanks or the like in hospitals. Regardless of the source of air, the valve arrangement enables controlled inflation thereof and the excess pressure valve assures that the inflatable member will be fully inflated but not over inflated.

The bedpan thus provides complete containment and disposal of maximum contents without any contamination and total sterilization of the bedpan including those used by patients with contagious or infectious diseases is achieved. A matching case may be provided for the bedpan to enhance the appearance characteristics thereof so that it may be easily stored in an attractive as well as compact manner. Also, if desired, the plastic material from which the components of the bedpan are constructed may `be impregnated with a germicide or bacteriostatic material which will further effectively reduce any possible contamination.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of `the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A bedpan comprising an annular inflatable member having an upper surface and adapted to be inflated under a user, a rigid seat member separate from said annular inflatable member and adapted to rest on said upper surface of said annular inflatable member when in the inflated condition, a removable liner extending into the opening of said annular inflatable member t0 form a container for holding waste material, and means associated with said annular inflatable member and said rigid seat member for selectively fastening said rigid seat member t0 said annular inflatable member and to said liner to hold said liner, rigid seat member and said annular inflatable member in assembled condition, said selective fastening means including a plurality of fasteners extending from said annular inflatable member for connection with said rigid seat member.

2. A bedpan comprising an annular inflatable member having an upper surface and adapted to be inflated under a user, said annular inflatable member having a first vertical dimension when in the uninflated condition and a second vertical dimension when in the inflated condition, a rigid seat member separate from said annular inflatable member and having a bottom surface adapted to rest on said upper surface of said annular inflatable member when in the inflated condition, said rigid seat member having an inner flange portion extending downwardly from said bottom surface and an outer flange portion extending downwardly from said bottom surface, said bottom surface and said inner and outer flanges defining a recess, said annular inflatable member being received in said recess, the vertical dimension of said recess being greater than said first vertical dimension of said annular inflatable member in the uninflated condition and less than said second vertical dimension of said annular inflatable member in the inflated condition such that said annular inflatable member in its uninflated condition is nested under said rigid seat member to conveniently position a user on the bedpan, said rigid seat member being elevated by said annular inflatable member when inflated to the inflated condition.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,466,142 4/1949 Yost 4-113 2,671,226 3/1954 Lychenheim 4-113X 2,714,212 8/1955 Reed 4-113X 2,714,726 8/1955 Hasselquist 4-177 2,840,828 7/1958 Furnberg 4--172 2,990,837 7/1961 Cushman 4-177X 3,06l,840 11/1962 Presseisen 4-113 3,377,631 4/1968 Whitney 4-112 3,418,663 12/1968 Scott 4 113 3,464,066 9/1969 Marks 4-113 HENRY K. ARTIS, Primary Examiner 

